Briefly

UNITED STATES

Biden restores aid flows to Palestinians

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday restored aid to the Palestinians to the tune of $235 million, drawing a rebuke by ally Israel, as he promised to press for a two-state solution. In his sharpest break on the conflict yet from the staunchly pro-Israel Donald Trump, Biden said the United States would resume funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that his predecessor had severed. The State Department said the United States would contribute $150 million to the UN agency and offer $75 million in economic and development assistance for the West Bank and Gaza as well as $10 million for peace-building efforts.

ISRAEL

Silent tribute to Holocaust victims

Israel briefly came to a standstill on Thursday with the morning bustle halted for two minutes at 10 am as sirens blared to honor the victims of the Holocaust. In an annual ritual, pedestrians froze in place and drivers stopped and stood in silence beside their vehicles, honoring the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II. Ceremonies took place across the country, in contrast to last year when coronavirus restrictions forced most memorials to be held online only and when the aging survivors of the genocide were confined indoors. Israel has now lifted some of its pandemic restrictions.

SOUTH KOREA

Opposition party wins in two major cities

South Korea's conservative opposition party has won sweeping victories in mayoral by-elections in the country's two biggest cities, votes widely seen as a test of public sentiment ahead of next year's presidential election. Oh Se-hoon of the opposition People Power Party won 57.5 percent of the votes cast in Wednesday's election in the capital Seoul, according to the final vote tally released by the National Election Commission. Park Youngsun of the ruling Democratic Party won 39.2 percent of the votes. In the mayoral election in Busan, the country's second-largest city, People Power Party candidate Park Heong-joon beat Democratic Party candidate Kim Young-choon by about 28 percentage points, the tally showed.

MEXICO

Tricksters get shots allocated to seniors

Two Mexican men in their 30s managed to get the coronavirus vaccine in the capital by disguising themselves as senior citizens, but were later caught, the authorities said on Wednesday. The impostors face charges of identity theft. The country of 126 million, whose official COVID-19 death toll of 205,000 is the world's third highest, has doled out nearly 10 million vaccine doses to medical workers and the elderly.

Agencies - Xinhua